Highlights of the day

  • 1793 Alexander Mackenzie reaches the Pacific Ocean at Dean Channel.
  • 1950 Mackenzie King dies at his Kingsmere estate at age 75.
  • 1963 Laurendeau and Dunton to chair Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism

List of Facts for July 22

  • 1629 David Kirke, Louis Kirke and Thomas Kirke raise the English flag over Québec and take possession of Fort St-Louis and Samuel de Champlain’s Habitation; a year earlier, the Kirke brothers demanded the surrender of the fort, but Champlain drove them off; the French will leave Québec on September 14, 1629; some habitants stay behind; four years later, the colony will revert to France. Québec, Québec
  • 1629 Olivier le Noir is the First black person to arrive at Québec, with the Kirke brothers. Québec, Québec
  • 1773 Francis Legge appointed Governor of Nova Scotia; serves from October 8, 1773 to July 29, 1782. London, England
  • 1778 George Cartwright shoots six polar bears, but takes only one skin; describes it as ‘the finest sport that man ever had’. Labrador, Newfoundland
  • 1783 Nova Scotia Governor John Parr names the Loyalist settlement of Shelburne. Shelburne, Nova Scotia
  • 1793 Alexander Mackenzie reaches the Pacific Ocean down the Bella Coola River into Dean Channel of Bentinck Arm; mixes some vermilion in melted grease and inscribes and paints on a large rock: Alex Mackenzie from Canada by land 22d July 1793; First to cross the Great Divide and North America north of Mexico; his party set out in May, and traveled much of the way on foot; when they reached the Bella Coola River, they traded goods for canoes and paddled to the sea; hostile natives made them beat a hasty retreat upriver; back in Montréal, the North West Company can see no practical use for Mackenzie’s route, but he will be knighted for his exploit. Dean Inlet, BC
  • *See: Alexander Mackenzie’s Voyage to the Pacific Ocean (extracts).
  • 1808 David Thompson reaches Rainy River House on the Saskatchewan River. Returns to Kootenai House that autumn. Alberta
  • 1811 David Thompson sets off on return trip from the Pacific Ocean; will winter in western Manitoba. Oregon
  • 1847 British Parliament passes Act giving the Province of Canada power over own taxation; Canada can now raise own duties for revenue. London, England
  • 1875 The HBC’s Saskatchewan River steamboat Northcote arrives at Fort Edmonton, the First river steamer to reach the settlement. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1876 James Macleod resigns his magistrate’s role to return to the North West Mounted Police as third Commissioner; serves with the NWMP until October 31, 1880, when he becomes a member of the North West Territories Council, and in 1887 is appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of the NWT. Macleod served as brigade major with the Wolseley expedition in 1870; he founded Fort Macleod, suppressed the illegal whisky trade and negotiated Treaty No 7 with the Blackfoot. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1876 Colonel George French fired from NWMP and replaced by James Macleod. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1876 First telegraph line reaches Saskachewan. Saskatchewan
  • 1884 Imperial Privy Council defines new northern boundary for Ontario; to Maniba and Hudson Bay. London, England
  • 1892 US and Britain sign Alaska Boundary Convention and convention on Passamaquoddy Bay, Maine. Washington, DC
  • 1893 John Rae dies at age 79; born September 30, 1813; physician, explorer of the Canadian Arctic who found the First Franklin Expedition remains. Stillwall, Orkney, Scotland
  • 1905 Buffet car of south-bound Great Northern (N&FS) train out of Nelson jumps the track at the Beaver Falls bridge; accident leaves five dead and five injured. Nelson, BC
  • 1906 Grand Trunk Railway changes from left to right hand running on double track sections to conform with North American standards; the company has to change all its crossovers, switches and semaphore signals. Ontario/Québec
  • 1908 Prince of Wales arrives at Québec City to help celebrate the city’s 300th anniversary. Québec, Québec
  • 1911 Winnipeg auto dealer W. C. Power becomes the First air passenger in Western Canada. Winnipeg, Manitoba
  • 1912 Close of the fifth Olympic games in Stockholm; attracted 28 nations and 2546 competitors; Canada has three gold medals: George Goulding in the 10 000 metre walk, and George Hodgson in the 400 and 1500 metre swims. Stockholm, Sweden
  • 1912 Edmonton annexes the town of North Edmonton. Edmonton, Alberta
  • 1915 Sandford Fleming dies at 88; born January 7, 1827 at Kirkaldy, Scotland; railway engineer, devised a way to divide the world into time zones. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1917 First World War - British and Canadians soften up the German lines at Ypres with a bombardment of 4,250,000 grenades. Ypres, Belgium
  • 1932 Reginald Fessenden dies at 65; born at Milton-Est, Québec October 6, 1866, inventor, engineer, with 300 radio and TV patents; broadcast the world’s First program of voice and music Christmas Eve, 1906. Hamilton, Bermuda
  • 1941 Second World War - HMCS Brandon is commissioned. Esquimalt, BC
  • 1943 Second World War - Canadian Army capturess Assoro and Leonforte; with three other Italian towns. Assoro, Italy
  • 1944 Henry Larsen leaves Halifax on the RCMP patrol ship St. Roch to return to Vancouver, BC via the Northwest Passage; completes trip 86 days later. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1947 Two new nuclear reactors go online at the Chalk River research facility; heavy water-cooled NRX (National Research Experimental) reactor starts electricity production. Chalk River, Ontario
  • 1948 Second Newfoundland referendum in less than two months gives narrow 7,000 majority for union with Canada. Newfoundland
  • 1950 Mackenzie King dies at his Kingsmere estate at age 75; born December 17, 1874, at Kitchener, Ontario; educated at the universities of Toronto and Harvard; Canada’s First Deputy Minister of Labour and editor of the Labour Gazette 1900-1908; Labour consultant, Rockefeller Foundation 1914-1918; Liberal Party Leader 1919-1948; Leader of the Opposition 1919-1921, 1926, 1930-1935; Prime Minister December 29, 1921-June 28, 1926; September 25, 1926-August 7, 1930; October 23, 1935-November 15, 1948. Old Chelsea, Québec
  • 1953 Department of National Defence issues final Korean War casualty list, showing 1,500 Canadian soldiers killed or wounded in the UN mandated conflict. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1959 First Canadian jazz festival opens in Toronto, featuring Oscar Peterson and Maynard Ferguson, and special guest Louis Armstrong. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1959 Queen Elizabeth II opens Queen Elizabeth Generating Station of Saskatchewan Power Corporation. Saskatchewan
  • 1960 Jean Lesage sworn in as Liberal Premier of Québec, replacing Antonio Barrette of the Union nationale. Québec, Québec
  • 1960 Vincent Massey becomes the first Canadian to receive the Royal Victorian Chain. London, England
  • 1961 John Diefenbaker opens Northwest Telecommunications System; largest single microwave project in Canada. Whitehorse, Yukon
  • 1962 Disaster - Canadian Pacific airliner crashes during an emergency landing at Honolulu, killing 27 people, including 11 Canadians. Honolulu, Hawaii
  • 1963 Lester Pearson appoints André Laurendeau and Davidson Dunton to chair the new Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1963 Parliament passes Act establishing the Department of Industry. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1963 Zafrulla Khan, President of United Nations General Assembly, starts visit to Canada. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1965 Strike by 10,000 postal workers in Ontario, Québec, and British Columbia for better pay; Montréal workers return to work August 7, 1965.
  • 1965 Ontario Court of Appeal grants citizenship to Dutch immigrants Ernest Bergsma and Cornelia Bergsma; previously denied because they were atheists. Toronto, Ontario
  • 1968 Fire guts historic Basilica of St. Boniface; $2.5 million damage; many priceless items of early western history destroyed. St. Boniface, Manitoba
  • 1968 Canada signs Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty at ceremonies in Moscow, London and Washington.
  • 1979 Bank of Canada raises lending rate from 11.25% to 11.75%. Ottawa, Ontario
  • 1981 Strike by Halifax police ends after 53-days, 196 officers accept 3-year contract. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1981 Québec licensed taverns required to post notice saying that women are allowed to enter; end of an old tradition; taverns licensed before 1979 not affected and can still bar women. Québec
  • 1996 Westray Mine Explosion - Nova Scotia government takes full responsibility for the 1992 explosion at the Westray mine in Plymouth, Nova Scotia; former Premier Donald Cameron had suggested the miners had not followed proper safety precautions, whereas provincial inspectors were to blame. Halifax, Nova Scotia
  • 1996 Disaster - Ottawa and Québec set up $200 million relief fund to help victoms of Saguenay flood victims. Québec, Québec
  • 2004 Molson Breweries and Adolph Coors confirm that they planned to merge their family-controlled breweries. Montréal, Québec
  • 2004 Toronto Police arrest suspect in Cecilia Zhang murder case, 9 months after she was abducted. Toronto, Ontario
  • 2010 Head of Statistics Canada resigns over government’s decision to axe Canada’s mandatory long-form census. Ottawa, Ontario